Cast your minds back to the early stages of this year- Arsenal fans were calling for Arsene Wenger to step down from his position, after a decline in form in the league and defeat at home in the first leg of the Champions League, after an embarrassing performance against Bayern Munich.
This seemed to be the last straw for the fans, following an embarrassing exit to Blackburn in the Fifth Round of the FA Cup only a month after crashing out of the league cup against League Two Bradford City.
A recent upturn in league form has resulted in only three losses since the turn of the year and they currently occupy third position, although fourth placed Chelsea have a game in hand. They are now on a run of four consecutive wins which is more like Wenger’s Arsenal of old.
Where are all the Wenger haters now? Arsenal seem to have a regular dip in form every year yet they come strong in the final stretch and continually qualify for the Champions League- the last time they failed to occupy a Champions League place at the end of the season was 1997.
They have sold their star players over the last few seasons, Alex Song, Robin Van Persie, Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, to name a few. These players haven’t quite been replaced by players of equal quality, yet Wenger still seems to get his team over the final hurdle and this year it appears they may do so once again, pipping faltering rivals Tottenham to a place.
Every season, newspapers report Wenger is ready to spend big in the summer and this year is no different. Close friend David Dein recently said Wenger would spend and he also is said to plan a mass clear out, getting rid of dead wood such as Sebastian Squilacci and out of contract Andrei Arshavin.
After bringing in former defender Steve Bould to solve his back lines’ problems, there are still frailties and this maybe something he will address first, especially if they suffer the loss of Laurent Koscielny, amid recent reports he may join Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich.
Clever signings such as Spaniards Mikel Arteta, Santi Cazorla and Nacho Monreal show Wenger still has the managerial touch and Arsenal fans would be crazy to still want a new manager in the coming years. He plays football the right way and eventually, with the right signings, his methods will work and Arsenal will be serious contenders.
Source: DSG
